Seo Yoseop "I Will Break the No.1 Seed Jinx"

Descente Korea's First Victory Challenge in Match Play
Top Seed Never Won... Best Result Is 5th Place Jinx

Seo Yoseop aims to break the No. 1 seed jinx.

Seo Yoseop is expecting to win at the 13th Descente Korea Match Play, part of the Korean Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Korean Tour, held from June 1 for four days at Kingsdale Golf Club in Chungju, Chungbuk (par 72, 7,323 yards). The total prize money is 800 million KRW, with the winner's prize at 160 million KRW.

Jeon Seong-hyun, Park Eun-shin, Ham Jeong-woo, Lee Jae-kyung, Kim Dong-min, and Seo Yo-seop (from left) are posing at the Descente Korea Match Play photocall event.
[Photo by KPGA]

At the photocall event on May 31, a day before the tournament, Seo Yoseop said, "I will do my best in every match step by step to achieve the desired results. I will compete without fear," adding, "I will break the No. 1 seed jinx with a victory." Historically, No. 1 seeded players have underperformed in this tournament. So far, not a single No. 1 seed has finished higher than 4th place. The best result by a No. 1 seed was 5th place, achieved by Kim Taehoon in 2021.

Seo Yoseop debuted on the Korean Tour in 2016 and has accumulated five career wins. Last year, he secured two wins with his powerful long drives. Seo Yoseop was the runner-up in this tournament in 2019. Although he lost in the final to the 'Match King' Lee Hyeongjun, the match went to three sudden-death playoffs.

On the first day, Seo Yoseop will play against Kang Minseok in the morning and Lee Seungchan in the afternoon. On June 2, he will face Lee Jaekyung in the morning for the third group league match. He stated, "All the players in my group are tough opponents. Especially the match against Lee Jaekyung, who has been performing well recently, seems the most important." He expressed his determination, saying, "I will aim to advance to the round of 16 with three wins out of three matches."

The tournament features 64 players competing for the championship. Similar to the FIFA World Cup, the players are divided into 16 groups for the group league stage, with the top player from each group advancing to the round of 16. A win earns 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss 0 points. If there is a tie for first place in a group, a sudden-death playoff is held. From the round of 16 onward, matches are played in a one-on-one match play format, with the loser being eliminated.